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(No Model.)

W. H. BRIGHT. MULTIPLE GBARING.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. BRIGHT, OF MORROW, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OE ELEVEN-TWELFTHS TO PETER B. DUNHAM, J ONAH ANDERSON, ANNIE V. BRIGHT, F. M. COU- DEN, A. IV. STARKEY, A. SELZER, D. B. WILSON, ALBERT RUTTERER, A- O. BOWMAN, AND EUGENE DUNI-IAM, OE SAME PLACE.

MuLTlPLE eEARlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent No. 521,133, dated June 5, 1894.

Application filed November 10, 1893. Serial No. 490,576. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Morrow, inthe county of Warren and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Multiple Gearing, of which the following is a speciication.

My invention relates. to multiple gearing for bicycles and similar vehicles, and it has 1o for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive, direct and eficient construction whereby the pedal shaft and chain-wheel may be geared for either power or speed, or may be disconnected for coasting, by means under the control of the rider and capable of manipulation and adjustment without dismounting or checking the movement of the treadles.

A further object of the invention is to provide a'construction in which the co-operating 2o parts are compactly disposed se as to take up little if any more space upon the pedal shaft than an ordinary sprocket gear, to avoid setting the treadles at a greaterdistance apart than in the ordinary construction.

2 5 Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. v

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a view of a bicycle provided with a gearing embodying my invention. Fig. '2 is a transverse sectional view of the gearing and means for adjusting the same. Fig. 3 is an inside view of the sprocket disk. Fig. Ltis a similar view of the fixed plate and adjustable pinion. Fig. 5 is a detail view, in perspective, of the means for adjusting the movable pinion.

Similar numerals of reference indicate cor- 4o responding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 represents the frameof the bicycle, 2 the driving wheel, 3 the treadle shaft, and 4 the treadles, all of the ordinary construction.

5 represents a xed plate which is secured to the frame around the treadle shaft, and is provided with a peripheral overhanging ange 6, provided with internal gear-teeth 7, thus forming an internal xed gear.

14, carried by the loose disk.

8 represents a sprocket disk, having exter- 5o nal sprocket-teeth 9, which engage the chain 10 connected to the pinion 11 of the drivingwheel. The sprocket-disk is loosely mounted upon the treadle shaft and is provided with an inwardly-extending peripheral flange 12, which meets the outwardly-extending flange 6 of the xed plate. In the cavity thus formed between the fixed plate 5 and the loose sprocket-disk 8 are arranged planetary gears 13, which are'mounted upon pivot-pins 6o The loose disk is provided around the treadle shaft with an annular cavity 15, in which are arranged internal clutch-teeth 16.

Feathered upon thetreadle shaft is an ad- 6 5 justable pinion 17, which corresponds in'size with the cavity 15, and is adapted to be tted thereinto to engage the clutch-teeth 16; and the planetary gears are arranged at such a distance apart that, when properly adjusted, 7o the adjustable pinion will engage both of said gears simultaneously. The inner side ot' the adjustable pinion and the outer sides of the .planetary gears are beveled, as shown respectively at 18 and 19, whereby,`when the 75 pinion is arranged at an intermediate point between the limits of its movement, it will be ont of engagement with both its clutch-teeth and the planetary gears, and thus will leave the sprocket-disk free to rotate independently 8o of the treadle shafts. When the adjustable pinion is in engagement with the clutch-teeth 16, or at the limit of its outward movement, the sprocket-disk is locked directly to the treadle shaft, whereby the parts operate as in 8 5 the ordinaryv construction of gears of this class in which the sprocket or chain wheel is keyed to the treadle shaft and when the adjustable pinion is in engagement with the planetary gears, or at the limit of its inward 9o movement, the rotary motion ofthe treadle shaft will be communicated through the planetary gears to the sprocket-disk, and as the planetary gears are permanently in en gagement with the internal fixed gear, the motion of the sprocket-disk will be a quotum or dividual part of that of the treadle shaft. The ratio of the two motions will depend upon the relative sizes of the pinion and planetary gears.

The mechanism f'or operating the adjustable pinion consists of a rack-bar 20, which extends inward beyond the fixed plate 5 and is engaged by an intermeshing spnrgear 2l fixed to the lower end of a rotary shifting-rod 22, which is journaled in suitable bearings provided thereforand which extends upward to Within convenient reach of the rider and is provided with a suitable handle 23. The lower bearing for the shifting-rod is formed in a bracket 22 extending inward from the fixed plate 5.

It is apparent that the rotation of the shifting-rod 22, by means of its handle 23, will cause a longitudinal movement of the rackbar 20, and thus move the adjustable pinion to engage either the planetary gears or the clutch-teeth, or to occupy a position between the planes of the planetary gears and the clutch-teeth to permit independent rotation of the sprocket-wheel. Thus the ad jnstable pinion may be arranged in either of three positions, respectively to lock the sprocketgear to the treadle shaft, to allow independent movement of the sprocket-disk for coasting, and to cause the pinion to mesh with the planetary gears to increase the power, and in order that the rider may set the pinion in either of these positions Without experimenting, I- provide a lock consisting of a disk 2l, carried bythe handle 23, and having, in its under surface, a series of three sockets or depressions 25, and a spring-actuated pin 2G, provided with a beveled upper end to engage 011e of said sockets or depressions and mounted in a vertical guide 2G formed in a box 2Gb in which the upper end of the shiftingrod is journaled. As the han die of the shifting-rod is turned, this locking pin engages .the sockets or depressions successively, and thus indicates to the operator the exact position of the adjustable pinion.

The connection between the rack-bar 2O and the gear 17, whereby the latter is capable of free rotation and is adapted to be moved transversely to occupy either of its three positions above described, forms no part of my invention,and may be varied according to the taste and skill of the manufacturer, but in the drawings I have shown said rack-bar provided at its outer end with a ring which fits in a surface groove in the inner side of said gear 17 and is held therein by a plate or fiange, as shown 1n Fig. 5. A detailed description of this part of the construction is unnecessary for the reason above assigned.

From the above description it will be apn parent that the mechanism is susceptible of various changes in form, proportion and minor details, which maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim isl. The combination With a treadle shaft,of a fixed internal gear, a rotary sprocket-disk loosely mounted upon said shaft and provided with internal elutch-teeth, planetary gears carried by the sprocket-disk and meshing permanently with the internal geartceth, an adjustable pinion slidably mounted upon the treadle shaft and adapted to engage either the clutch-teeth or the planetary gears, and means foroperating said pinion, substantially as specified.

2. The combination Witn a treadle shaft, of a stationary plate, an internal gear carried by said plate, a sprocket-disk loosely mounted upon the treadleshaft and having a peripheral iiange to meet the outer edge of the internal gear, clutch-teeth arranged in a cavity in the sprocket-disk, planetary gears carried by the sprocket-disk and permanently engaging the internal gear teeth, an adjustable pinion feathered upon the treadle shaft and adapted to engage either the elutch-teeth or the planetary gears, said planetary gears and adj ustable pinion being beveled upon corresponding sides to enable the latter to occupy a position between the clutch-teeth and said gears, and means for operating the adjustable pinion, substantially as specified.

The combination with atreadle shaft, of fixed internal gear, a loose sproekebdisk provided with clutchteeth, planetary gears earried by said disk, and an adjustable pinion feathered upon thetreadle shaft and adapted to engage either the clutch-teeth or the planetary gears, of a rack connected to said pinion, a shifting rod provided with a spur-gear in engagement With said rack, and a locking de vice consisting of a plate carried by the shifting-rod and provided with spaced .sockets or depressions, and a spring-actuated locking pin to engage said sockets or depressions successively to hold the adjustable pinion in either of its adjusted positions,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WM. II. BRIGHT.

Witnesses:

JOHN II. SIGGERS, Guo. C. Snoniunxnn.

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